Motocross pioneer Mike Cinqmars dead at 31

Freestyle motocross pioneer Mike Cinqmars had died at the age of 31, ESPN is reporting.

Mike “Cinq” Cinqmars won a medal in the 1999 X Games, but it was a thanks to a show on MTV called “Senseless Acts of Video” that he became well known. A stunt in which he jumped over his two-story house in Apple Valley, California drew mainstream attention, and Cinqmars expresssed a preference for video stunts over competition:

“Films sit in people’s homes forever, and people watch them all the time,” he said in 1999. “Contests are cool, but I’d rather go shoot a vid. In contests, sometimes you do well, sometimes you don’t. [Your talent] doesn’t always show. And there’s a lot of pressure, and I’m kind of over that. I want to just go ride and have fun.”

Ultimately, it was a penchant for stunts that ended Cinqmars’ career, due to a broken back while filming 35/01 My Trip. A post on Transworld Motocross hinted that the rider had fallen on hard times since the crash, and the intervening circumstances may have been a factor in his death. Cinqmars was pronounced dead at 2:08 am by the San Bernardino County Coroner. Cause of death has not yet been established and an autopsy is scheduled for next week.